Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBEis an English musician, singer, songwriter and astrophysicist, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. He uses a home-built electric guitar, called the Red Special. His compositions for the band include "We Will Rock You", "Tie Your Mother Down", "I Want It All", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "The Prophet's Song", "Flash", "Hammer to Fall", "Save Me", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "The Show Must Go On"...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionGuitarist
Date of Birth19 July 1947
CityLondon, England
The guitar was my weapon, my shield to hide behind.
I had this idea... I wanted the sound to sing and have that thickness but yet still have an edge so that it could articulate. So my dad and I designed the guitar... the one that was made from an old fireplace.
I just want to be able to play as fast as my brain goes, and my brain doesn't go all that fast.
I'd put a lot of work into playing guitar, and was thinking I was pretty damn good. But Hendrix came along and destroyed everyone.
Every time I listen to Jeff Beck my whole view of guitar changes radically. He's way, way out, doing things you never expect.
I tend not to write on guitar very often. I tend to start off with keyboards.
I've always lived in that guitar world. I have noticed kids being more into the real essence of guitar music now.
Sometimes if the guitar is the last thing to go on, it's very fresh.
My mum says I wanted to be a surgeon, but I don't remember that. I think from the time I knew what was happening, I wanted to be a guitar player.
I'm pretty basic as far as technique is concerned. I don't use many gadgets, and I like the sound my guitar makes, anyway.
I had this big thing about guitar harmonies. I wanted to be the first to put proper three-part harmonies onto a record. That was an achievement.
The guitar has a kind of grit and excitement possessed by nothing else
To my mind Keep Yourself Alive was never really satisfactory. Never had that magic that it should have had.
At the moment the Queen stuff does sell really well, but there's no guarantee it'll go on forever